The present invention relates generally to anesthesia, and more specifically to a device, kit, and method of applying local anesthesia, particularly regarding bone joints.
Anesthesia is generally broken down into general anesthesia and local anesthesia. Application of local anesthesia not only have therapeutic uses, but also may have diagnostic uses. For example, injecting local anesthesia in bone joints has been employed diagnostically for confirming or refuting a medical hypothesis that a certain form of pain, is caused by, or at least correlated with, localized nerves at a given joint. By injecting a contrast agent and/or a localized anesthetic at the joint, if the patient's pain is eliminated, or at least reduced, this is a “positive” indication that the medical hypothesis is correct, thereby indicating a subsequent medical therapeutic treatment at or pertaining to such joint. For example, such therapeutic treatment might include fusion (by surgical implant or otherwise) at the joint. Therapeutic treatment may also (and/or instead of) employ injectables via the present needle, including for example steroids, stem cells, glucose, hyaluronidase, and/or otherwise. However, prior to such therapy, the physician wants to confirm the hypothesis that nerves at or near the joint are the problem. As such, by injecting local anesthetic at the joint, this is further confirmation of that hypothesis.
However, precisely injecting a local anesthesia in such joint is difficult. Moreover, the bone joint surface tissues, typically articular cartridge, may be delicate and can be damaged. Moreover, such damage may be irreversible, or at least difficult to reverse or heal. For example, prior needles 10, with sharp tapered tips, have been inserted through the skin 707 and missing the joint, penetrating into bone 901 (FIG. 1A); and/or entering the joint but penetrating the articular cartilage 903 (FIG. 1B) of the joint.
Thus, there is a long felt need for providing accurate diagnostics of such bone joint-nerve hypothetical diagnoses, and providing it in an easier, more reliable and/or less damaging manner.